Why sacrificing comfort for safety in F1 is a good idea

If you saw Kimi Raikkonen hit a wall at 150 mph during the
British Grand Prix, you appreciate how remarkably strong, and safe,
a modern Formula 1 car is. The Ferrari driver experienced a
47G impact when he went nose-first into wall yet limped away
with no major injuries.

We've seen no shortage of spectacular crashes in F1 in recent
years, and each is a testament to the level of safety engineered
into the cars. Raikkonen's
shunt during the first lap was scary to see. The Finn ran wide
through Turn 5, went into the ample run-off-area, then clipped a
rain gully as he tried to get back on track. That sent him
careening into the wall, then spinning back across the track into
the opposite wall. Williams F1 driver Felipe Massa -- making his
200th career start -- couldn't avoid the careering Ferrari and ran
right into him. Amazingly, no one was seriously injured in the
pile-up, and Raikkonen suffered nothing more than a sore ankle.

That's due to a relentless campaign to make Formula 1 cars ever
safer. There are pages and pages of safety regulations, and the
cars undergo stringent dynamic, static and load tests to ensure the safety of drivers.
It all starts with the monocoque, the principal component of the
car's chassis. The monocoque includes the driver's survival cell
and cockpit, which is surrounded by "deformable crash-protection
structures" that absorb energy during a crash, plus a 6mm layer of
carbon and Zylon (used in armoured vests), so things like carbon
fibre splinters don't injure the drive in the event of a crash. The
car is equipped with a fire suppression system that can be
activated by the driver or race marshals, spreading fire retardant
foam around the chassis and engine.

Following a crash, the driver can be extricated from the car
following by lifting out the entire seat, which minimises the risk
of spinal damage. Before they race, drivers must demonstrate they
can get out of the car within five seconds without removing
anything except their six-point seatbelt harness (a single hand
movement opens it) and the steering wheel (which must be
reinstalled within another five seconds). An accident data recorder
records information like speed and deceleration forces so doctors know how the severity of an impact.

In addition to Nomex fire-resistant suits, which can withstand temperatures of
600 to 800 degrees Celsius for more than 11 seconds without warming
the inside of the suit above 41 degrees, drivers also wear helmets made of carbon fibre, polyethylene and fire-resistant
kevlar. The helmet is made to be as light as possible, typically
just under 3 pounds, because more weight adds to the g-forces
experienced during acceleration, braking and cornering. The visor
includes a special anti-fogging chemical to prevent the inside from
becoming obscured during the race as well as air intakes to help
cool the driver's head.

Finally the driver wears a Head and Neck Support (HANS) device that connects to his helmet
and is worn under the seat belts. The HANS system prevents a
stretching of the vertebrae and helps stabilize the driver's head
during an accident. The collar absorbs and redistributes forces on
the head that would otherwise hit the driver's skull and neck
muscles. The device, introduced to F1 racing in 2003, is today
widely used across many forms of motorsport.

Lewis explains his driving positionMERCEDES AMG PETRONAS

Safe, yes. Comfortable, no
But the safety features of the car, along with the ability to
tackle a track at triple digit speeds, come at the expense of
driver comfort. In a video produced last year by Mercedes, driver
Lewis Hamilton reveals that his seating position is similar to
being in a La-Z-Boy, if he reclined it roughly 30 degrees further
back than appropriate, making his feet level with his chest. The
seat, which weighs roughly a kilogram, curves around the driver's
shoulders, hips, and abdomen, so the driver's body doesn't budge
when handling 5G of lateral forces.

To keep the car's centre of gravity as low as possible, the
bottom of the seat is on the floor of the chassis, just inches
above the ground. Without much in the way of a suspension, the
driver can feel every bump in the road, but he's stuck looking just
over the
steering wheel to see the track. From there, he can't actually
see the front of his car, leading to the occasional fender
bender.

Oh yeah, and it's excruciatingly hot. Cockpit temperature
averages 122 degrees Fahrenheit. During races that last two and a
half hours, drivers can drop more than six pounds just through
sweating. To survive the heat and 5Gs of forces racing can dish
out, drivers have to be extremely fit (and tend to have rather thick
necks).

At least when the car is stationary, it's quite comfortable.
Hamilton and his competitors have carbon fibre seats specially
moulded to their rear ends. "It's so easy to fall asleep when
you're in the garage" between qualifying sessions, Hamilton says in
the video.